Kramer inducted into Division III Track and Field Hall of Fame

MASSENA  Highly decorated former track and field athlete and now Potsdam resident Dale Kramer was inducted into the NCAA Division III Track and Field Hall of Fame on May 22.

Kramer was one of four people recently honored in the ceremony at La Crosse, Wis., an event that preceded the Division III Outdoor Championships.

Kramer grew up in Glenwood, Minn., and graduated from Glenwood High School in 1974. From there, he attended Carleton (Minn.) College where he took the national stage several times. In his four years there, Kramer garnered seven NCAA Division III All-American honors and won four national championships in various events. His plunge into the running world started shortly before high school, thanks to a classmate.

I have been running since 14 years of age. An older student dared me to try out for the cross country team during the summer preceding freshman year, Kramer said.

That dare culminated into two consecutive state individual championship titles in the two-mile run (1973, 1974), and a wonderful collegiate experience at Carleton College. My younger brother, Tim ,also ran as well in high school and college.

Kramer received a degree in chemistry from Carleton and received a post graduate NCAA scholarship to attend the University of Minnesota at the St. Paul campus and study animal science. Instead, he began working as a quality control manager with Kraft Foods in Canton in 1979.

After nearly four years in that position, Kramer decided to attend Clarkson University to pursue a masters degree. Around this time, he also discovered the College for Financial Planning in Denver, which works to enable student learning at a profit and offers technologically advanced education programs to adults in the financial services industry. In 1997, he received a masters of science degree from the college.

Throughout much of the 1980s, Kramer worked for Prudential Financial Services near Potsdam and was married in the early portion of the decade. After spending nearly a quarter of a century of his life in Minnesota and enjoying the immense success he had in running, Kramer found the transition to northern New York very easy.

The north country has been a wonderful experience for me, Kramer said. I enjoy the smaller town atmosphere where people greet each other and know their families. I met my wife here. She is a graduate of Potsdam Central High School and Potsdam State University. Her career as an IT Manager for Alcoa spans 30 years, Kramer said.

Kramer was inducted into the Carleton College Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 and began working at his current job with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in 1991.

The business focuses on retirement planning with an emphasis on wealth asset management. He is the vice president of the company, as well as the senior portfolio manager and a certified financial planner and financial adviser.

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